You’re never late for meetings. You also chip in for every co-worker’s birthday or baby shower that comes along. That’s why you consider yourself a good colleague – certainly not like that annoying person in the cubicle next to you.

But what you may not realize is that you can indeed be that person. The person who annoys teammates with rude, sloppy, underhanded and clueless behavior.

So let’s look at what can be getting you in the most trouble:

A common rude behavior that irks colleagues is gabbing about personal issues on your cellphone. In fact, a Jive Software study finds that 65% of workers are annoyed by someone having loud or private conversations in a public area. In addition, the buzzing and beeping of your phone signaling incoming texts or emails also annoys your colleagues. With 59% saying that they dislike it when you fail to silence or turn off your phone when appropriate.

“Your mobile phone is mobile. Stand up, walk to somewhere that’s a little bit more private to have those private conversations,” says Sydney Sloan, Jive’s social media expert.

Read on for some worse workplace behavior.

  • You’re sloppy. It is one thing to turn your cubicle into a toxic waste dump, but it’s another when your slovenly habits affect others. An OfficeTeam survey finds that 44% of workers say that making a mess for others to clean up is the most annoying break room behavior. So is eating smelly food in your cubicle, dripping coffee on the carpet and exploding a burrito in the microwave and failing to clean it up.
  • You’re underhanded. It doesn’t mean much when you get your work done if you’ve accomplished it by being a weasel. Perhaps you take full credit for a happy customer when you know that a colleague was the one who gave you the idea for solving the issue. Or, maybe you put only your name on a report that had significant input by someone else. There’s a reason they say karma is a you know what – you will find out one day when you need help and your co-workers turn their backs on you.
  • You’re clueless. What? You were supposed to have that report in by 9 a.m. today? You didn’t know that! Why is everyone so mad? Probably because you seem to like to keep yourself in the dark. Colleagues count on you to be resourceful enough to take care of your work from beginning to end, and they don’t want to babysit you to ensure the job gets done. Learn to be resourceful to develop not only your own value and skills, but to stop ticking off co-workers.
  • You need subtitles. While you may ask a question seeking clarification, it can be done in such a demeaning way that it feels like an insult.  You know that voice you use to talk to your 3-year-old niece? Don’t use that with co-workers, please.

Now that we’ve clarified some common workplace annoyances that a coworker or maybe you have been guilty of.

How do we address them?

Stay tuned for part two of this blog series on how to deal with workplace stressors and coworkers that you don’t like.